Heckelphone / Bass Oboe Repertoire

Excerpt: Solo pieces for heckelphone (chronological)

by Peter Hurd; reorganized and amended by Holger Hoos, editor-in-chief since 2020

version 2 (1 February 2022)

This collection is based on the catalogue of musical works requiring heckelphone or bass oboe instrumentation assembled by Peter Hurd beginning in 1998. For this new edition, the original version of the repertoire list has been edited for accuracy, completeness and consistency, and it has been extended with a number of newly discovered pieces.

Some entries could not (yet) be rigorously verified for accuracy; these were included nonetheless, to provide leads for future investigation, but are marked clearly. Pieces were selected for inclusion based solely on the use of heckelphone, bass oboe or lupophone, without any attempt at assessing their artistic merit. Arrangements of pieces not originally intended for these instruments were included when there was clear evidence that they had found a significant audience.

We gratefully acknowledge contributions by Crawford Best, Ulrich Brokamp, Michael Finkelman, Francis Firth, Alain Girard, Thomas Hiniker, Robert Howe, Gunther Joppig, Georg Otto Klapproth, Mark Perchanok, Andrew Shreeves and Michael Sluman.

1900-1909

Chadwick, George Whitefield (1854-1931): Für das Heckelphon (Fragment), 1905

Publisher: Heckel-Archiv (ms)

Remarks: a theme of four bars, written for Wilhelm Heckel in June 1905

Duration: 24sec

Tags: heckelphone; solo


1950-1959

Mielenz, Hans (1909-1996): Concerto für Heckelphon und Orchester, op. 60, 1959

Publisher: ms

Remarks: for heckelphone and large orchestra; based on a 12-tone-series; first recording and broadcast in November 1982 by Georg Otto Klapproth (heckelphone) and the Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie under Reinhard Peters; first live performance on 5 May 1985 in Darmstadt, Germany, by Georg Otto Klapproth (heckelphone) and the Staatstheaterorchester Darmstadt under Hans Drewanz; a version for heckelphone and piano also exists

Duration: 14min

Tags: heckelphone; orchestra, solo, keyboard instrument


1960-1969

Eyser, Eberhard (1932-): Sonatina für Heckelphon, 1968

Publisher: STIM 22153, Stockholm

Duration: 8min

Tags: heckelphone; solo

Additional information can be found here.


1980-1989

Schulze, Werner (1952-): Heckelphonia, op. 5/2, 1982

Publisher: NÖ Musikedition (NE 22008)

Remarks: for heckelphone solo; dedicated to Alfred Hertel; premiere on 29 August 1982 in Vienna, Austria, by Alfred Hertel

Duration: 6min

Tags: heckelphone; solo

Additional information can be found here.

Darbellay, Jean-Luc (1946-): Plages, 1985

Publisher: Hug & Co. Musikverlage, Zürich

Remarks: originally for cor anglais or alto saxophone; version for heckelphone solo (2008), premiere on 6 June 2008 in Bern, by Alain Girard; version for lupophone solo (2017)

Duration: 6min

Tags: heckelphone, lupophone; solo

Additional information can be found here; a recording is available here.

Wolking, Henry (1948-): Concerto for Heckelphone & String Orchestra, 1985

Publisher: Wolking Music Publications

Remarks: commissioned and premiered by Douglas Craig and the Utah Virtuosi

Duration: 12min

Tags: heckelphone; orchestra, solo

Additional information can be found here.


1990-1999

Denhoff, Michael (1955-): Tableaux Sombres, op. 60, 1990

Publisher: Edition Gravis (EG 256)

Remarks: for heckelphone and large orchestra; commissioned by the City of Münster; premiere in 1991 in Münster, Germany, by Georg Otto Klapproth (heckelphone) and Münster Symphonieorchester under W. Humburg

Duration: 21min

Tags: heckelphone; orchestra, solo

Additional information can be found here.

Isaacs, Gregory Sullivan (1947-): Song Without Words, 1992  [?]this entry is only partially verified

Remarks: for cor anglais and orchestra; version for heckelphone authorized by composer; other versions also exist

Duration: 9min

Tags: heckelphone; orchestra, solo

A recording is available here.

Zechlin, Ruth (1926-2007): Briefe an HWH, 1992

Publisher: Musikverlag Zimmermann

Remarks: for solo oboe; "HWH" refers to Hans Werner Henze; #1 & #3 authorized by the composer for heckelphone

Duration: 12min

Tags: heckelphone; solo

Additional information can be found here.

Grella-Możejko, Piotr (1961-): aa69 (Coloratura for Dennis Prime), 1983-1993  [?]this entry is only partially verified

Remarks: for bassoon or heckelphone

Duration: 12min

Tags: heckelphone; solo

Additional information can be found here; a recording is available here.

Heller, Barbara (1936-): Solo-Album für Holzblasinstrumente (Englischhorn Solo-Album), 1998

Publisher: Furore-Edition (FUE 3250)

Remarks: for cor anglais, flute, recorder, clarinet, oboe, oboe d'amore or heckelphone; dedicated to Julian Singer; premiere 2002 in Bern, Switzerland

Tags: bass oboe, heckelphone; solo

Gardner, James E. (1962-): Charge, 1999

Publisher: Amoris International AI SI 008

Remarks: for a member of the oboe family of instruments; dedicated to Jennifer Paull; premiere in 2000 at the IDRS Conference in Buenos Aires, by Jorge Postel Pavisic; original version 1997 for clarinet

Duration: 2min

Tags: heckelphone, bass oboe, lupophone; solo

Additional information can be found here.


2000-2009

Irving, David (1935-): Quintet for Double Reeds, 2002

Remarks: with heckelphone solo; later adapted for other instruments; premiere on 1 June 2004 in Deal, NJ, USA, by Mark Perchanok and the New York Kammermusiker

Tags: heckelphone; chamber music, solo

Additional information can be found here.

Vereno, Klemens (1957-): Kalenderblatt XXXVI, 2003

Remarks: for heckelphone solo

Duration: 2min

Tags: heckelphone; solo

Additional information can be found here.

Biriotti, León (1929-): XI Sinfonía concertante, 2004

Publisher: ms

Remarks: for heckelphone and large orchestra

Tags: heckelphone; orchestra, solo

Additional information can be found here.

Kulenoviç, Vuk (1946-2017): Concerto for Heckelphone, 2006  [??]this entry has not (yet) been verified

Tags: heckelphone; orchestra, solo

Richards, Peter (1959-): The Lost Penguin, 2008

Publisher: editiondb 0701002

Remarks: for solo bass oboe or heckelphone; a version for solo cor anglais also exists

Tags: heckelphone, bass oboe; solo

Additional information can be found here.

Tokke, Justin P. (1990-): Heckel, 2009

Publisher: sheet music available from the composer

Remarks: for solo heckelphone and chamber orchestra

Duration: 5min

Tags: heckelphone; orchestra, solo

Additional information can be found here; a recording is available here.


2010-2019

Winter, Paul (1939-): Miho: Journey to the Mountain (album), 2010

Publisher: Living Music

Remarks: commissioned by the Miho Museum in Kyoto, Japan; a heckelphone part, played by Paul McCandless, can be heard prominently in "Bendir and Heckelphone"

Duration: 78min

Tags: heckelphone; chamber music, solo

Additional information can be found here; a recording is available here.

Beatty, Stephen W. (1938-): Articulations for Heckelphone, op. 175, 2012

Duration: 6min

Tags: heckelphone; solo

Additional information can be found here; a recording is available here.

Staffel, Andreas F. (1965-): In hohem Holz ... und weiter, 2016

Publisher: Edition Anthemion (710181)

Remarks: for oboe solo, oboe d'amore, cor anglais and baritone oboe ... individually or in arbitrary combinations, with arbitrary changes between instruments, with and without interplay; dedicated to Antje Thierbach; premiere on 19 October 2017 in Berlin, Germany, by Antje Thierbach

Duration: 12min

Tags: bass oboe, heckelphone, lupophone; chamber music, solo

Additional information can be found here; a recording is available here.

Montgomery, Christopher (1931-): Valse False, 2017

Remarks: for heckelphone or bassoon

Duration: 2min

Tags: heckelphone; solo

Additional information can be found here; a recording is available here.

Beatty, Stephen W. (1938-): Heckelphone Solo, op. 1044, 2018

Duration: 5min

Tags: heckelphone; solo

Additional information can be found here; a recording is available here.

Beatty, Stephen W. (1938-): Heckelphone Solo No. 2, op. 1048, 2018

Duration: 5min

Tags: heckelphone; solo

Additional information can be found here; a recording is available here.

Beatty, Stephen W. (1938-): Heckelphone Solo No. 3, op. 1052, 2018

Duration: 5min

Tags: heckelphone; solo

Additional information can be found here; a recording is available here.

Beatty, Stephen W. (1938-): Heckelphone Sonata, op. 1661, 2019

Duration: 10min

Tags: heckelphone; solo

Additional information can be found here; a recording is available here.

Beatty, Stephen W. (1938-): Heckelphone Sonata, op. 1692, 2019

Duration: 7min

Tags: heckelphone; solo

Additional information can be found here; a recording is available here.

Beatty, Stephen W. (1938-): Heckelphone Sonata, op. 1696, 2019

Duration: 9min

Tags: heckelphone; solo

Additional information can be found here; a recording is available here.

Beatty, Stephen W. (1938-): Heckelphone Sonata, op. 1699, 2019

Duration: 8min

Tags: heckelphone; solo

Additional information can be found here; a recording is available here.


2020-2029

Beatty, Stephen W. (1938-): Solo for Heckelphone, op. 1909, 2020

Duration: 7min

Tags: heckelphone; solo

Additional information can be found here; a recording is available here.

Newton, Brett (1982-): Five Miniatures for Oboes, 2021

Remarks: the fifth movement is for bass oboe or heckelphone

Duration: 1min

Tags: bass oboe, heckelphone; solo

A recording is available here.


To suggest additions or corrections to the repertoire list, please contact heckelphone@gmx.net.
All rights reserved by Peter Hurd and Holger H. Hoos, 2022.